Azure Pipeline: 'Microsoft.Build.Locator' - An assembly specified in the application dependencies manifest (dnt.deps.json)

Question

I am running the following script https://github.com/RicoSuter/Namotion.Reflection/blob/master/azure-pipelines.yml for a CI build demo:

trigger:
  branches:
      include:
      - master
      - release
      - refs/tags/*
pr:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

variables:
  BuildConfiguration: Release
  Projects: '**/*.csproj'

steps:
# Install required SDKs and tools
- task: UseDotNet@2
  displayName: 'Install .NET Core SDK'
  inputs:
    packageType: 'sdk'
    version: '2.2.203'

# Patch preview project versions (only when on master branch)
- task: CmdLine@2
  displayName: 'Install DNT'
  condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/master'))
  inputs:
    script: 'npm i -g dotnettools'
- task: CmdLine@2
  displayName: 'Update project version patch'
  condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/master'))
  inputs:
    script: 'dnt bump-versions patch'
    failOnStderr: true
- task: CmdLine@2
  displayName: 'Patch project version preview'
  condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/master'))
  inputs:
    script: 'dnt bump-versions preview "$(Build.BuildNumber)"'
    failOnStderr: true

# Build and test
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  displayName: 'Build solution'
  inputs:
    command: 'build'
    projects: '$(Projects)'
    arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration)'
    feedsToUse: 'select'
    versioningScheme: 'off'
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  displayName: 'Run tests'
  inputs:
    command: 'test'
    projects: '$(Projects)'
    arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --collect "Code Coverage"'
    publishTestResults: true
    feedsToUse: 'select'
    versioningScheme: 'off'

# Publish artifacts
- task: CopyFiles@2
  displayName: 'Copy packages'
  condition: and(succeeded(), ne(variables['Build.Reason'], 'PullRequest'))
  inputs:
    Contents: '**/*.nupkg'
    TargetFolder: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    flattenFolders: true
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish artifacts'
  condition: and(succeeded(), ne(variables['Build.Reason'], 'PullRequest'))
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    ArtifactName: 'drop'
    publishLocation: 'Container'

I tried to adjust the vmImage to use ubuntu-latest and adjusted the npm command so that it is prefixed with 'sudo', however on the command dnt bump-versions patch I get the error below:

##[section]Starting: Update project version patch
==============================================================================
Task         : Command line
Description  : Run a command line script using Bash on Linux and macOS and cmd.exe on Windows
Version      : 2.151.2
Author       : Microsoft Corporation
Help         : https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/tasks/utility/command-line
==============================================================================
Generating script.
Script contents:
dnt bump-versions patch
========================== Starting Command Output ===========================
[command]/bin/bash --noprofile --norc /home/vsts/work/_temp/29d33702-3084-4704-851f-a6f76f18f813.sh
DNT (DotNetTools) NPM CLI
Error:
  An assembly specified in the application dependencies manifest (dnt.deps.json) was not found:
    package: 'Microsoft.Build.Locator', version: '1.2.6'
    path: 'lib/netcoreapp2.0/Microsoft.Build.Locator.dll'
child_process.js:660
    throw err;
    ^

Error: Command failed: dotnet "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/dotnettools/bin/binaries/NetCore22/dnt.dll" bump-versions patch
    at checkExecSyncError (child_process.js:621:11)
    at Object.execSync (child_process.js:657:15)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/dotnettools/bin/dnt.js:52:11
    at ChildProcess.exithandler (child_process.js:286:7)
    at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:210:5)
    at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:1021:16)
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:283:5) {
  status: 140,
  signal: null,
  output: [ null, null, null ],
  pid: 3784,
  stdout: null,
  stderr: null
}
##[error]Bash exited with code '1'.
##[error]Bash wrote one or more lines to the standard error stream.
##[section]Finishing: Update project version patch

Any ideas please? I am following this code from a tutorial, I am open to other yaml scripts.

Answer 1

The error you faced indeed caused by dotnettools.

See this DNT#npm-cli-package. You can see that the requirement of dotnettool is

.NET Core 2.2+ or NetFX 4.7.2 and Visual Studio 2019

BUT,

NetFX is the one which unique for windows. In another word, if you continue want to use dotnettool, you can not use Ubuntu and MacOs image because NetFX is Windows-only.

So, here you can not apply the pipeline with Ubuntu agent.